Art Industry News: Virgil Abloh’s MCA Chicago Exhibition Is Drawing Almost as Many Visitors as David Bowie’s + Other Stories

by admin

Aug 30, 2019

artnet

Art Industry News is a daily digest of the most
consequential developments coming out of the art world and art
market. Here’s what you need to know this Friday, August
30.

NEED-TO-READ

Dealers Prepare for a No-Deal Brexit – As Boris Johnson moves to suspend Parliament in
order to force through Brexit by October 31, members of the art
trade in London fear delays and disruption are on the horizon,
particularly when it comes to shipping work between Britain and
Europe. Art dealer Thaddaeus Ropac is moving his personal
collection to the continent, and Kamel Mennour has already moved
art back to Paris. When asked if Hauser & Wirth is planning to open
a Paris space, following in the footsteps
of David Zwirner, a spokeswoman did not deny the rumor, saying:
“We don’t currently have any news to share.” (The Art
Newspaper)

Kemper Museum Trustees Are Under Fire – The latest American museum to come under
scrutiny from activists because of the business ties of its
trustees is the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas
City, Missouri. Five board members have been linked to a detention
center in Rhode Island that has been accused of inhumane
treatment. The artist
Molly Crabapple is among those urging the Kansas City museum to cut
ties with the trustees, who include Mariner Kemper, the CEO of UMB,
a bank holding company that represents bondholders for the Wyatt
Detention Center. The activist campaign began after
two Immigration and Customs
Enforcement detainees died in the center and the bondholders sued
the Rhode Island city where the center is housed over its decision
to stop receiving ICE detainees. (Hyperallergic)

Virgil Abloh’s Show Doubles Summer Attendance at MCA –
Turns out Virgil Abloh has almost as much wide appeal as David
Bowie and Takashi Murakami. The designer, DJ, and artistic
director’s exhibition at Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art,
“Figure of Speech,” has been seen
by 100,000 visitors since it opened in June. It is now on course to
become the museum’s third most popular exhibition ever, after its
David Bowie and Murakami blockbusters (both drew just under
200,000). Much of Abloh’s popularity is due to Gen
Z: MCA Chicago’s chief
curator Michael Darling said that “with Virgil’s significant youth
following, we have seen a surge of young people exploring the
museum.” To meet the demand,
the MCA has extended the show until September 29. (Complex)

The British Museum Hands Over Looted Iraqi Tablets – The
British Museum has handed over more
than 150 ancient Sumerian tablets to the Iraqi ambassador in
London. The more than
4,000-year-old artifacts were seized by customs officials in 2013
as they were being smuggled into Heathrow from the United Arab
Emirates. Paperwork claimed that they were handmade tiles worth a
few hundred dollars; on the black market, they would be worth tens
of thousands. The clay tablets are believed to have been looted in
2003 after the US-led invasion to topple former Iraqi dictator
Saddam Hussein. (Times)

ART MARKET

Are the Rich Spending Less? – The super-rich in the United States seem to be
cutting back their spending on art, classic cars, jewelry, and
luxury real estate, stoking to fears of a recession.
Volatile markets and slowing global
growth have meant that billionaires are putting themselves on a
budget. But for the art market, at least, the true test of their
restraint will come during the marquee November auctions in New
York. (CNBC)

The Bridge Fair Adopts a New Concept – Out: art fairs.
In: curated commercial concepts. Following the trend away from
booth-constrained fairs, the Hamptons event commonly known as the
Bridge fair has reinvented itself as the September Art Show. The
next edition will offer 10 curated pavilions featuring work from
participating galleries, including art by Richard
Prince, Frank Auerbach, Robert Rauschenberg, and Keith Haring.
It runs from September 13
through 15. (ARTnews)

COMINGS & GOINGS

K11 MUSEA Opens in Hong
Kong – As protests in Hong Kong rage on, collector
and real estate developer Adrian Cheng has unveiled a new 10-story
art-and-retail complex, K11 MUSEA, in the city’s harbor. The
project, 10 years in
the making, has set out to “facilitate a broader discussion on the
interconnectedness of creativity, culture, and innovation,” Cheng
says. Art on view includes works by
artists Elmgreen &
Dragset, Erwin Wurm, and Katharina Grosse, among
others. (Press
release)

Howardena Pindell Wins
$25,000 Award – The Artists’ Legacy Foundation in
Oakland, California, has named artist Howardena Pindell as the
winner of its 2019 Artist Award, which comes with a $25,000 prize.
The annual award is given to a painter or sculptor who has made
important contributions to the field. Pindell was overlooked for
much of her 50-year career, and is now widely known for her
abstract works on paper made of hundreds of numbered dots.
(Artforum)

FOR ART’S SAKE

Inside LS Lowry’s House
– The new film Mrs Lowry and
Son, about the life of British painter LS Lowry and his
mother, is out soon, starring Timothy Spall and Vanessa Redgrave.
But what is it like to live inside the real Lowry’s house?
Fans frequently flock to the home outside of Manchester, and
sometimes its current inhabitants let them peek inside. But after a
local pilfered the plaque marking the home, visitors often find it
hard to tell exactly which house it is. (BBC)

Humans Came to America
1,000 Years Earlier Than We Thought – A new archeological
dig has revealed that Homo Sapiens came to the Americas
16,500 years ago, a whole millennium earlier than was previously
estimated. The news is based on newly discovered stone tools and
other artifacts unearthed at an archaeological dig at the Cooper’s
Ferry site in Idaho. The find also adds weight to the theory that
people entering the Americas first crossed over from East Asia to
Alaska. (Daily
Mail)

Get a Sneak Peek of
Olafur Eliasson’s Warriors Sculpture – Eliasson’s latest
commission, Seeing Spheres, will be unveiled on
September 3 at the Golden State Warriors’ home at the Chase Center
in San Francisco. The five hydroformed steel spheres contain
massive mirrors angled to magnify the plaza—and the sports fans
inhabiting it. (Instagram)

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